Just Set Up A New Tropical Tank And Have A Few Questions

[piratedninja]

im not really a complete noob when it comes to fishkeeping (ive had goldfish for over a year now which have been very healthy but died due to high levels of amonia)

since my goldfish have died (my parents fed them way too much) ive decided to start over completely and this time get tropical fish
its only a 10gallon tank for now and will probably get a bigger one later
heres what i have in there right now
2 blue gourami
3 Red Platy
2 (very) small plecos (the people at the store said these grow to about 2.5in max)

ive had the 2 gouramis in the tank for over a week now and they have been pretty happy
but heres the thing, one of them is much darker than the other (i cant figure out how to sex them) and it keeps chasing the ligher one around the tank
sometimes they happily play together but other times the darker one "bullies" the lighter one
today i added 3 red platies and the darker one sometimes chases the little ones around the tank too
and im wondering if he/she is gona be a problem in the future and if so should i take he/she back to the store?



another question is: is there a substitute for aquarium salt? the closest fish store is over 20miles away
is using epson salt a good or bad idea? and how much should i add to the tank?


last question is, what kind of plants should i add? right now i only have some of the cheapo plastic stuff

 

[rdd1952]

First, you're tank is pretty well overstocked. Blue gouramis will grow to about 5 or 6 inches and the plecos are very messy. The platies will produce fry about every 4 weeks so that will be more fish to contend with. If you let nature take it's course, the other fish will eat most of the fry but you will probably still have some that survive, especially if you have a lot of plants and hiding places. Keep a very close eye on your ammonia and nitrite levels.

Sexing the gouramis is easiest by looking at the dorsal fin. Quote from here: "In the male, the dorsal fin is long and pointed, while the female's is shorter and rounded." In platies, the males are generally more brightly colored and smaller. They are very peaceful fish so I don't think the chasing will be a problem but I have never kept them.

None of the fish you have require salt and the plecos definitely don't need salt as it will burn their skin. I would not put any in the tank.

For plants, it really depends on your lighting. If you have regular flourescent lights, you will have to stay with mainly low-light plants as you will not be able to get the watts per gallon required for higher light plants. Here is a pretty good site for plants. Click on Low Light plants for a list. If you decide to upgrade to power compact lights, you can get the 2+ watts per gallon you need for other plants.

 

[Yazan]

You might want to get the big tank pretty quickly because your overstocked and there might be a chance that you will get an ammonia spike or nitrite spike.

 

[piratedninja]

wow thanks for the quick replys

i think i'll just take the gouramis back to the store because i really dont want any fish over 3in because my parents will mostly likely overfeed them


the plecos are actualy very small about 1in right now so i'll put 1 with the gouramis and 1 with the platies

right now i only have a 12in 8w flourescent light on the tank because i had it laying around from a much older tank
and the tank is 13in high so any particular plants you recomend?

 

[Yazan]

Before you ask for what type of plants do you know how to care for plants?

 

[rdd1952]

Amazon sword, anubias nana (most all anubias), anacharis, hornwort and hygrophilia are all pretty good in low light tanks. They will just grow slower.

 

[piratedninja]

ive never had plants in an aquarium so the answer is no

if you know of some easy (to take care of) plants then please tell me
if not dont worry about it

 

[vinylman]

It sounds like you need to take the feeding of your fish out of your parent's hands. How often can you personally feed them?. The fish, not your parents..........

 

[piratedninja]

yea for now i keep the food locked up in my room

i feed the fish twice a day once in the morning when i wake up(around 7am) and again at around 7pm
usually when i feed them all of the food is gone within 2 min

 

[vinylman]

Try to keep one day a week with no food at all; it won't hurt them.

 

[rdd1952]

Or just cut down to once a day. That's all I feed mine.

 

[mommyof2bettas]

first of all, I'm guessing you have common plecs? Those can grow over a foot long, not 2.5 inches at all, they can get to 30 inches in a big enough tank and probably bigger. Take the plecs and one of the gouramis back and I think your tank has all it can handle. Did you cycle the tank? You need cycling or the fish are probably suffering

 

[rdd1952]

She said that the LFS told her the plecos would only grow to 2.5" so they should be dwarfs but we all know how reliable some LFS employees are.

 

[OohFeeshy]

She said that the LFS told her the plecos would only grow to 2.5" so they should be dwarfs but we all know how reliable some LFS employees are.

If that's realistic, the only options are hillstream loaches, or some kind of rubbernose. Technically both aren't really suited, so whatever the diagnosis, there's likely to be issues.

 

[piratedninja]

sorry for the confusion about the plecs

after going back to the store i found out they are not plecos at all
instead they are suckermouth catfish (they look almost identical to plecos)
they are actually called Otocinclus Catfish and they only grow to about 2in max
they suck on things and eat the algae off of them just like plecos

here is a site i found about them
http/www.otocinclus.com/


i returned both of the gouramis today and still have the 2 cats and 3 platys

would it be safe to add 2-3 guppies or 2 more platys
just wondering